Maple Field development has August start date

The Landed Gentry property that will become the 10 home Maple Field subdivision is an empty grassy field today, but that will soon change. By the end of August site and utility construction will begin and by the end of October it will look like a small subdivision, Brian Gentry, president of the firm, told the Weekly News last week.

Gentry did not have a date for when equipment will be moved onto the property but he estimated a 60 day construction period for getting all the site work done: sewer, water, utilities and private roadways and drives. He projects home construction will start before initial site work is completed, with the first homes finished next spring. Homebuilding will continue with the last houses completed a year or so from now. He noted the difficulty in getting supplies this year and the uncertainty that creates for scheduling.

“By end of 2022 and early 2023 all the homes will be filled with homeowners,” Gentry believes. “Given the disruption with building materials and other supply chains we do not anticipate a presale program for the homes at Maple Field.”

He declined to estimate home prices, dancing around the issue. “We will price them when they come to market at the appropriate market price at the time,” he said. “We anticipate the demographics of the buyers here to be very similar to those who currently enjoy calling La Conner home. We plan to build a variety of home designs that can work for all stages of life.”

As for buyers, “I think it will primarily be whom we already see in the community: people moving up from out of the area, from the greater Seattle area or out of state or maybe from Skagit County,” people downsizing and moving out of the country and into town he said.

They will sell homes as they are finished, pricing them to market conditions. Gentry does not think there will be model homes but those on site will be staged. The plans are for six single level homes. Two will have the master bedroom on the main floor, with guest or studio space on the upper floor. The remaining two home plans will offer second floor master suites and great room living on the main level.

In documents filed in early July with the Town of La Conner with its agreement to extinguish the easement, Gentry listed four models and their sizes: Birch, 1,428 square feet; Alder: 1,549 square feet; Timberland: 1,609 square feet; and a 30 foot custom at 1,653 square feet. The town council agreed to larger home sizes in the easement release agreement.

The Landed Gentry website promotes a three bedroom Birch model selling in Ferndale “starting from the high $500s.” It promoted its Timberland homes in Sedro-Woolley “starting from the High $600’s.” The Alder model was not priced on the website. Lot size and features offered in homes are integral to their sale prices, Gentry pointed out.

Gentry called La Conner “a unique and special place,” recognizing that “with strong community connections and sense of place, it was likely that the changes for a portion of Maple Field would be troubling for some.” He stressed his company’s 40-plus year presence in Skagit County and “felt it would be nicer for a local builder to be involved in taking this property to its next chapter rather than a group without local ties,” noting that Windemere Real Estate’s listing of the property opened it up to purchasers from Seattle and out of state.

“The town was going to sell the property,” said Gentry, “that was going to happen. Our approach is not just cookie cutter but thoughtfully designed and laid out homes where people could enjoy living there. We put together a thoughtful addition to the town. It is exciting to us. That is what I wanted to be a part of.”

They allowed the Little League to finish out their season, he wrote in an email, and that he was “grateful that the community has had an opportunity to say its goodbyes as a portion of the property changes its use.”

Gentry wrote “As we look toward the next phase of Maple Field, we want it to be a wonderful place to call home. The folks that will come to live there are going to want to contribute and be a part of the strong, authentic community that La Conner is,” and called this “a pretty desirable place.”

He defined his company as a second generation developer, managed with his sister, Kendra Gentry-Decker. He estimates they build 70 homes a year in Whatcom, Skagit and Island Counties with their staff involved in the process from land acquisition through the sales process of homes they design and build.